Indigenous Responses to Water Policymaking in Australia

Abstract:
Policy ideology in Aboriginal affairs is caught between left wing rights versus right wing responsibility arguments. Taking the radical centre position of mutual rights and responsibilities espoused by Pearson and applying it to the National Water Initiative, Eileen Willis, Meryl Pearce, Carmel McCarthy, Fiona Ryan and Ben Wadham demonstrate the way in which one Aboriginal community, Yarilena, situated in an arid and remote region of South Australia, has met the challenge. They show the initiatives instigated by the community that are applicable to other Aboriginal settings, and the challenges facing governments who take seriously the policy formulation of mutual obligation within the Pearson framework. Development (2008) 51, 418–424. doi:10.1057/dev.2008.30